Posted By John Ingold On November 25, 2011 @ 10:19 am In General | No Comments

A news round-up for a Friday morning in need of some sun.

LEADING OFF: Ah, the morning after Thanksgiving, when the blissful somnolence of the previous day’s food coma has yet to loosen its hold and the world seems filled with a gentle benevolence that … oh, jeez, people are losing their minds at Walmart[1]. Yes, folks, today is Black Friday, that day of cut-throat consumerism, of manic materialism, of people inflicting violence on others over a $100 television. Here’s the latest:

— A bomb threat[2] has closed the Woodland Park Walmart, according to The Colorado Springs Gazette.
— The Los Angeles Times reports that, in an apparent “shopping rage” incident, a woman pepper-sprayed a crowd[3] in a Southern California Walmart, sending several to the hospital.
— The Bay Area’s KTVU television reports that one person was shot[4] after an attempted, Black Friday-related robbery outside a Walmart in San Leandro.
— Myrtle Beach, S.C., television station WMBF reports that a person there was shot in the foot[5] near a Walmart in another robbery attempt connected to Black Friday.
— The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer reports that two men exchanged gunfire[6] outside a shopping mall there as bargain-hunters looked on.

Indeed, one day after that most genuine of American holidays, the nation’s temples of commerce have become battlefields, as The Denver Post’s Jordan Steffen discovered among the jostling hordes last night[7]. Meanwhile, in a quest to get above the fray, the nation’s two highest-brow newspapers try to place the Black Friday bedlam within the context of the cultural zeitgeist. In a story cleverly headlined, “Quest for a better deal unites Washington area’s encampments,”[8]The Washington Post compares protesters aligned with the Occupy Wall Street movement with shoppers camping out at what the paper dubs “Occupy Best Buy.” Meanwhile, The New York Times analyzes Black Friday as a movement of the have-nots[9], gamely competing for deals on a single day, while society’s haves happily pay full price whenever it suits them.

STRIKE 1: Save for a house fire in Evergreen[10] that Kirk Mitchell wrote about and a horrific accident involving a man pinned beneath an RTD bus[11] that Jordan Steffen went to, it is fairly barren, crime-wise, around The Denver Post this morning. But, if you haven’t read Kevin Vaughan’sfabulous tale[12] of a multi-state ring of credit-card frauds and the yellow Labrador who wanted a cookie and ultimately busted them all, do so now. Great story.

STRIKE 2: Judging by the papers across the state this morning, it looks like not a single crime was committed in Colorado yesterday, which is good, I guess, if you like peace and quiet and that sort of thing. As an alternative, allow the Colorado Springs Gazette to fascinate and disturb you with this story about dozens of bunnies abandoned along the road[13] and the theory that they may be “meat rabbits.”

[15] a new report on police-involved shootings: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/nyregion/2010-ny-police-shooting-report-shows-record-lows.html?_r=2&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1322204426-2OKIMjffDZj4FF7Srykb2w

[16] continued mystery of who that dude really was: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19408266